Receptacles, or containers, for refuse have a variety of useful applications and are available in a number of different sizes. For example, large receptacles of 44 or 55 gallons are commonly used for disposal of trash, grass, leaves, and other materials. These large sizes of trash receptacles can be difficult to move as a person attempts to move the receptacle to a dumpster or other place where the contents of the receptacle can be emptied.
Commercial refuse receptacles, however, generally come in cylindrical shapes without attached wheels. When these need to be moved, they are often dragged across the ground, often on the corner to decrease friction and allow them to be dragged with less effort. Dragging these receptacles on a corner can wear down the plastic that forms the body of the receptacle and lead to holes or cracking over time. This can also lead to excess stress on the handles and upper rim of the receptacle, which can lead to wear and cracking.
Alternatively, dollies have been employed to allow for easier transportation of refuse containers. Common dollies employ a variant of a “bayonet” or screw attachment design. In this type of design, the container is placed onto the dolly, or the container is inverted and the dolly is placed onto the container, and the mating bayonet flights or threads between the container and dolly are engaged. The dolly and container are then rotated with respect to one another until the dolly and container have been drawn up snugly against one another.
If the container is not inverted, a user must place the container upright on the dolly and grasp the dolly between their feet, and then rotate the container to tighten the container down. Often times a user cannot be certain that the engagement has been successfully accomplished or is sufficiently tight to avoid a disastrous and unexpected separation of the dolly from the container.
Alternatively, a user must bend down and hold the dolly with one hand while attempting to rotate the container with the other hand. This exposes the user to the accumulated dirt and other contaminants on the dolly, and again, cannot be accomplished with absolute certainty that the engagement was successful. For users with physical limitations, such a procedure can be impossible.
Some receptacles come with attached wheels to allow a person to wheel the receptacle to the curb or other place where it can be picked up. These are commonly used at homes where trash and recycling containers are filled with refuse from the home and then wheeled to the curb once or twice a week so that they can be emptied by city waste management. Various iterations of these receptacles are known in the art.
Receptacles are commonly manufactured by extrusion or injection blow molding, injection molding, and rotational molding. Extrusion blow molding is the easiest and cheapest method for making hollow plastic receptacles. However, blow molding typically does not allow for the formation of durable handles that can withstand heavier weights when grasped. Injection molding, on the other hand, allows for the creation of more durable handles that can be made as part of the receptacle body. However, the injection molding process is more costly and takes more time.
Commercial waste receptacles are also designed with wheels, allowing for easy transportation from a storage point to a pick-up point. For home use, the common storage point is near the side or back of the home, and the pick-up point is on the street in front of the home, allowing for a commercial waste pick-up vehicle to quickly and efficiently pick up the receptacle and dump the contents by use of a mechanical arm. There are ANSI standardized sizing requirements for compatibility with such a waste vehicle. Conforming to ANSI Z245.60 Types B and G classification allow for a waste receptacle to cooperate with existing curbside collection systems.